Biggest and Best Retail Chains in China

China's Retail Companies on the World's Largest Global Powers of Retailing List

Getting a strong foothold as a major retail player with the consumers of China is the 21st century gold rush for retailers around the world. The enormity of China's population is attractive enough but coupled with increasing wages and good employment prospects, the frenzy of activity from global retail companies is making China one of the most competitive retail markets on the planet.

Overall, the economic growth in China has been greatly improving and expanding at a time when the U.S. and European economies have been struggling just to maintain stability after the contraction of the Great Recession.

China's economic growth in 2010 was 10.3% and in 2011 was 9.2%, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

For the first time in 2011, there were more Chinese citizens living in China's cities than in its rural areas. This, of course, makes retail customers easier to reach. This might account for the 17.3% year-over-year growth in retail sales in November, 2011 and the 18.1% year-over-year growth in December, 2011.

While China is obviously a fertile retail market for international retailers and global flagship stores, it is also a difficult market because Chinese consumers have demonstrated a preference for and a loyalty to retailers that are native China-based companies. Apparently "Made in China" doesn't have any derogatory connotations when you live and shop in China. Even so, there aren't many Chinese retail chains that are dominant enough at home or abroad to qualify for the annual World's Largest Retailers List.

What follows is a complete list of the China-based retail chains considered to be among the largest retailers in the world, according to annual revenue. The number in the left column is the global ranking number assigned to the company, based on its sales figures, compared to other top retail organizations worldwide on the 2011 Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and STORES Magazine Global Powers of Retailing List.

Retail Companies Based in China Ranked Among the 250 Largest Retailers In the World